A military truck sprays chemicals in the Old Quarter of Hội An. More areas in Quảng Nam were locked down. — Photo courtesy Quảng Nam Portal

CENTRAL REGION — The central province of Quảng Ngãi has reopened its General Hospital after a week under lockdown, the provincial heath department said on Monday.

The province also locked down more residential quarters in Lê Hồng Phong and Trương Quang Trọng wards in Quảng Ngãi City, as well as tested all who have had close contact with COVID-19 patients.

Army units disinfected living quarters and sites that COVID-19 patients had visited as of Sunday evening.

According to the latest report from the health department, nearly 9,000 people have been quarantined at heath centres and at home. More than 1,500 medical samples had been taken, of which 1,412 tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.

A total of 47 medical samples were tested at the provincial general hospital, and more tests will be conducted at the hospital and assigned Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

Doctors at a hospital in Đà Nẵng. Strict measures have been implemented to limit infection in the community. — Photo courtesy of Đà Nẵng Health Department

Đà Nẵng and Quảng Nam also expanded more lockdown areas as the two central localities become Việt Nam's COVID-19 epicentre, with the virus spread affecting mostly hospitals and resulting in first deaths the country has recorded since the pandemic began.

Cẩm Lệ hospital in Cẩm Lệ District and Lê Sơn Nam commune in Hòa Vang District were closed on Sunday for heath units to find people in contact with current COVID-19 patients.

Đà Nẵng named six mass isolation sites and a 700-bed field hospital to be put into operation later this week.

The city will offer mass testing for possible SARS-CoV-2 hotspots with 10,000 medical samples tested each day.

At least 13,228 cases have been identified as contacts of COVID-19 patients as of Monday. More than 16,000 tests, of which 10,000 returned negative for SARS-CoV-2, have been conducted so far.

People living in lockdown areas, including three sections of streets surrounding three hospitals in the city, had been tested for SARS-CoV-2 as well as disinfected.

The city said it would re-open the general hospital in several days after a lockdown which began on July 28.

Quảng Nam Province began expanding lockdowns to Điện Bàn town, Đại Lộc, Duy Xuyên, Thăng Bình and Quế Sơn districts after An Hội and Cẩm An wards in Hội An were closed for COVID-19 isolation last week.

Medical workers test people at a quarantine centre in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province. The province is treating 18 COVID-19 patients from Đà Nẵng and Quảng Nam. — Photo courtesy Thừa Thiên-Huế Portal

Thừa Thiên-Huế Province sent buses to carry people returning from COVID-19 hotspots in Đà Nẵng, Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi. These people will be isolated and tested at quarantine centres.

The province prepared four quarantine centres to host more people from COVID-19 areas in central Việt Nam.

According to the provincial health department, 19,000 people had been identified as returning from COVID-19 hotspots. Eighteen COVID-19 patients from Đà Nẵng and Quảng Nam are being treated at Huế Central Hospital.

13 patients in critical condition

Among the 242 active COVID-19 cases currently under treatment in Việt Nam, 13 are in a critical condition, the Ministry of Health said Tuesday morning.

Dr Lương Ngọc Khuê, director of the Ministry of Health’s Department of Medical Examination and Treatment and deputy head of the sub-committee on treatment at the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, said among the severe cases, ten have required invasive mechanical ventilation and ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), he said.

Previously, more than 20 per cent of these cases had showed no clinical symptoms.

The majority of patients are elderly with many underlying conditions. These patients are under special treatment at Huế Central Hospital, Đà Nẵng General Hospital, Đà Nẵng Lung Hospital, and Quảng Nam General Hospital in central Việt Nam, the epicentre of the current coronavirus outbreak in Việt Nam, along with HCM City Tropical Diseases Hospital.

Khuê said all the best doctors have been called in to help treat the patients, who are closely monitored through the COVID-19 online support and operation management centre located in the department.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyễn Trường Sơn has requested directors of Chợ Rẫy Hospital, HCM City’s Medicine and Pharmacy University Hospital and the HCM City’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases to urgently send health experts to Quảng Nam General Hospital to participate in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Khuê suggested medical examination and treatment facilities closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic to detect all suspected cases and cases coming from pandemic-hit areas for immediate isolation and quarantine.

As of Monday morning, Việt Nam has reported 621 infection cases, of which 372 have fully recovered. Six fatalities have been reported since last Friday. — VNS